Billow
"Land I'm going to fucking crush your head." — Billow, CC: 42/8/5,218Billow Sayerburn (often Bill, also known as the Green Man o' the Forest, born CC: 40/3/5,190), was the bastard son, and murderer of Halos Sayerburn, the son of Mailan (a Grey prostitute), the older half-brother of Cal, Geb, and Ayeson, as well as Rott's adoptive brother, an ally to Landeles, Vayess, and Ross, the nameless woman's lover, and a violent serial killer psychopath who tore a path of destruction across Flayeland. Billow was famed for his inhuman strength, and nobility, and as the Green Man for his meticulous savagery, evil cunning, and dark swordsmanship. As Billow he was a kind older brother to Rott, fought alongside Ross, Geb, and the Lyzard Lych to take down the Southern Sage; fell in love with, and courted the nameless woman, and stuck to his "strict moral code" by acknowledging all of his siblings while strongly disapproving of their actions. As the Green Man, he orchestrated such events as the Rape of Runol, the Massacre at Meyemes, and the Great Fire of Blue Bay, killing hundreds of innocents in order to fulfill his bloodthirsty desires. Appearance: Billow's father was a nearly full-blooded Sefenlander, and had the bright blond hair, green eyes, and tan skin stereotypically associated with them. Billow's mother, on the other hand, was of mixed background, but apparently had a father of full-blooded Garlenner descent. This means that she had dark skin, straight black hair, brown eyes, and a full feminine figure. Billow, as a result of his parents wildly different appearances was quite tall (standing at 203 centimeters), dark skinned, had bright green eyes, long straight black hair with a silky texture more typical of Sefenlanders, his father's sharply defined face, the sullen look of his mother, and the full masculine figure of a Garlenner warrior (weighing 100 kilograms). His hair would quite often get in his face, and he would wear it swept to his left, covering most of his forehead, and shadowing quite a bit of his face. As a child, he would often wear noble dress. As he grew up, he became accustomed to wearing military uniforms, and clothes wholly appropriate for the weather. On the day he killed his father, and grandfather, he wore a black raincoat, a black gasmask, boots, and simple brown, and black underclothes. Much like other people living in Zul, he would wear the simple green, or white clothes sown by the elderly Zulic women. He would request his clothes be sown quite baggy, joking that he liked for it to "billow" in the wind. He would often work odd jobs, using the money principally to buy food, and later on using it to buy armor, weapons, and gear of all kind. Personality: Billow was a reserved person, a born stoic, and had a natural disdain for the company of others. He enjoyed his own company, or the company of animals over that of humans. He found peace in quiet, in bird songs, and in the soft sighs of the forest. He was, however, the bastard son of a noble, and for much of his early childhood, his presumed heir. This meant that he was forced to attend noble functions, learn the "proper" way of doing things, and interact with people that were in his opinion, not at all like him. Billow, keeping to his calm, and careful nature, never managed to embarrass himself, or the House of Sayerburn at these functions. But he heard the way he was talked about: "Look at that little black bastard," "Who brought a Garlenner here?," "Oh it's Halos' boy, wonder how he feels about the word 'bomb.'" He grew to resent them, not himself, never himself. Billow swore to himself that he would not feel shame, could not feel shame. His time alone in the forest had given him strength of will, and of character, hardening him, and causing insults to either infuriate him, or wilt away before him like nothing. His life took a drastic turn for the worse when Halos was forced by Duke (Duke Beyoss Sayerburn, Billow's grandfather) to finally marry. Halos took Kaandala Nari, a COLORFUL woman, as wife, and soon enough, she gave him a daughter. Billow's half-sister Calthoss was born scrawny, yellow, and a harelip. Billow, upon seeing her, felt a strange combination of undying love, protectiveness, disgust, hate, jealousy, and pity. Prior to this point in life, Billow would have given anything to stop being his father's heir presumptive. Now, he wanted nothing more.In his head, Kaandala Nari took that away from him, and he grew to hate her. It didn't help that the woman was a typical noble, calling the boy "black bastard" even in front of Halos, who seemed to love his son less, and less as time passed. Billow grew to resent his father, and out of spite, would force himself into more, and more noble activities. He took up jousting, fencing, horseback riding, dragon riding, he began to squire, and he even took on the responsibility of teaching his sister how to read (against the protests of Nari). In his stomach, hate festered, and it rotted him from the inside-out. He began to take out his rage whenever he wore masks. "Let this mask replace your other, that of noble Billow," he would say to himself. When jousting, he was known to kill many of his opponents, something that Halos would cover up, saving Sayerburn's, and Billow's reputation. The same happened when he was fencing, and even on Paintcolor's Day, people were known to go missings in the Cave's surrounding villages. However, he made it a point to never show this side of his personality to his family, detesting that Halos ever became aware of it at all. Despite his feelings on the matter, Billow actually became more well-liked after Cal's birth. Most of Duke's subjects prefered a black Garlenner over a harelip as their liege lord, let alone a woman, especially one who's unstable behavior had become too much for Halos to cover up. Especially in Vilful, where piety is respected, Billow was beloved, even. This mattered not to him, only Halos, and the duchy mattered to him, so he continued to grow in the shadow of his younger sister. Biography: Birth: Billow was born CC: 40/3/5,190 in Sempps, the most-farwestern village within the Sayerburn fief. Drunk on love, lust, and wine, Halos Sayerburn found no issue in taking the priestess prostitute Mailan all the way home to birth his child. Not until he laid eyes upon his son did he realize the full weight of his decisions. Repentant before his dragon god, he sent the prostitute back, and gave his son the Sayerburn name. Apparently Billow was born with blond, or brown hair, that became blacker, and straighter as he aged. He was apparently born crying quite loudly, shrieking almost. Nari Sayerburn, a noble lady hoping to meet Halos upon his return to Calthoss' Cave served as a midwife to Billow. She left a definite impression upon the man, and several years later, when he was looking for a suitable wife, she was the second or third person that was thought of. Before his birth, Halos had doubted the child was his, but apparently in deep lust with Mailan, allowed her to follow him. Upon the birth of the boy, Halos saw in his bright green eyes his own kin. Halos, despite the fact that he did favor his harelip daughter, never stopped loving Billow, and seeing him as his firstborn son, and possible heir if his daughter were ever to die. Cave Killings: Billow was given a gasmask by Halos, along with his sister. He instructed Billow to take her exploring the deadwood, that good armor and these masks were capable of protecting them from the death in the air. Billow loved his sister, don't doubt it, but he resented her higher station. He was past twenty, and she was an eight-year-old. They both came back, but Billow was changed. When he wore the mask, all he felt was rage and hatred and the urge to destroy and crush and skewer and kill and rape and burn and smash. He killed Halos, and Beyoss wearing the mask and the armor. He killed Nari too. Finally, he came upon his sister. He grabbed her by her face, arms crushing her neck and ripping at her throat. He taunted her, and tore her face apart right of her lip. But he could not kill her. He was weak, and the servants were coming. Cal looked into his eyes, and he felt unmasked, and in such a state he could not kill. He fled into the deadwood. That Earth: There, Topaz, a servant of the Shadow, lured Billow through it and to a lychgate. Billow walked for weeks, the armor around his left arm allowing for the death in the air to touch him silently. He ate nothing, save for rations in his sealed bag. Finally, he came upon a quarry. Far from civilization, and even then it's only Calthoss' Cave, surrounded by deadwood, and far from any living creatures, this was a perfect place to create a lychgate. The foggy weather helped, as it meant only a few surrounding cities (notably, the Dimple and the Dam), noticed the black star that came with the lychgate. Billow was forced to enter the Temple of Ninety-Ninehalls by Topaz. Billow challenged Topaz to a duel. Topaz accepted and won. Billow was led out of the temple. Topaz took him from Haunted Isle to Flayeland, then he disappeared into the night, waiting at Haunted Isle for years while being relayed plans by Kaz's hiveminds. Billow was under the impression that he was in the past after having read several time travel stories in Duke's library. Rape of Runol: Billow unleashed his rage. He murdered everyone in the first settlement he came upon. Runol, it was called, and his visit to it, the Rape of Runol. Six years earlier, a one-year-old boy, the son of Viceses and Lila, had been "abandoned" there, but adopted by Ozan, and Rolem. Well, actually, King Kelcheldes, otherwise known as the Sojourner, forced them to adopt him. Billow murdered both hornmen. Kelcheldes learned of this later on, but kept it from Viceses until their final fight in the scorch garden. Billow learned the kid's name... Relth, named in honor of Kalar Relth. The kid didn't know Billow did it. He just assumed he was an explorer who happened on him. Billow raised his as his brother from then on. He renamed him Rott, though, as he thought Relth sounded like Rott. He wasn't well-read enough to know the true fate of Hockrott the Sailor. The two moved away from the area, Billow hoping to forget his bloody history, and Rott attached to Billow like a parasite. Rott grew in the shadow of Billow, who was more intelligent, more powerful, more handsome, and more friendly. However, he was not more respected. The only people less liked than hornmen in tent cities are those who house them. They are generally mocked, said to have some perverse obsession with them, Billow's usually called 'Billow the Brotherfucker.' Billow loves Rott, because the kid reminds him of Calthoss. The innocent, desperate to live look in his eyes reminded him of the look Calthoss gave him when he spared her. Rott, like many other little kids (he was seven when Billow met him), was super curious and inquisitive. Rott became familiar with the basics of the languages that Billow knew, principally the Crahish dialect of Lobott. He also learned the history of Crahia (however, Billow had him under the impression that Crahia was a country just south of Eles' country in the Great West of Rainland and not on a totally different world), as well as some Lobott and Sefenlander history. He was, of course, never told anything about the Ayelands. Rott grew resentful of his brother. He grew in his shadow, and could never beat him. He, despite loving him, developed this weird obsession with destroying Billow. At some point he realized Billow probably killed his parents, but he never did anything about it. Rott played tag with the other hornchildren and rejects living in Zul for much of his childhood. He made trouble and went into Calum to steal and beg. He got into fights that Billow had to save him from, or patch him up for (usually, this ended in the deaths of neighborhood bullies). He became good friends with Makal, a redhead with green eyes, horns, and wings. Billow inherently distrusts the boy, suspecting that he planned on using Rott as a doppelganger for his little shenanigans. Makal actually quite likes Billow, seeing his strength as admirable, and later on gains his trust by teaching Rott how to fight, and once Rott became Makal's equal, Makal went to Billow, hoping he'd teach them how to fight. Makal went on to pose as Rott/Viceses' son, traveling to this Earth when Pyett managed to capture the main forces of Bottomjaw's armies, bringing Makal to Lobtonne. Billow, meanwhile, quietly indulged his violent streak, acting as a vigilante in Zul. Killing minor criminals, slitting the throats of rapists, and thieves, and threatening figures like King Caye Cull Worr. as well as some of the more unsavory chieftains of Zul. However, he became good friends with Chief Makaloz, Makal's uncle, and a man looking to take Zul out of the mud and blood and into the light. Makaloz was honest, simple, and had a glib tongue. He liked making sarcastic remarks, he liked joking around, and he liked arguing his ass off with Calum's King, and the King's representatives. During the Invasion of Flayeland, Billow was alerted by Rott. Landeles, who'd heard Rott's warning to the chieftains, followed him to Billow's Tent, where the three made plans to escape Zul. The three were ambushed by a group of Myklasi Knights, led by Lila. Calum had been chosen purposefully, as Viceses' spies had reports of a silver-haired man living in Zul who had risen to power. This was Makaloz, not Landeles. Myklasi Knights headed the battle on the Calum front got to the chief and brutally murdered him in front of his family, then killed them all, aside from Makal, who under the orders of Viceses, was imprisoned along with all the other hornmen living in Zul and Calum. Gebel Snakepit, the Duke Soufbattle and right-hand man (alongside left-hand man Lyzard Lych) to Claimant Great Emperor of the Stone Ayeson Garlcutter, is Billow's half-brother through Halos. Cal's related to Billow in the same way. Halos was a busy man, and fathered his first bastard on a whore, Mailan, during his more pious years, taking the boy back to Calthoss' Cave. This was Billow. His second child, fathered on a prostitute priestess named Aya, was more easily abandoned (he'd say donated or given) to the grey priests. This was Gebel. His third child was fathered on his wife, Nari of the House of Kaandala, a woman of the Face of Crahia. This was Calthoss. By sheer coincidence, or rather fate, Mailan, Billow's mother, is also Ayeson's mother. Ayeman found the woman quite beautiful, and raped her pregnant, and then waited for the child so that he might have a successor. This means that Billow has three brothers: Rott (by adoption), Gebel (half-brother bastard through Halos), and Ayeson (half-brother bastard through Mailan). Billow, much like Ayeson, was born in Sarpland. Billow, having initially arrived on that world through a lychgate on Haunted Isle, brought Landeles, the nameless woman, and Rott there. Landeles somehow knew where they were going, but Landeles decided not to question him. The nameless woman said nothing. Rott, however, had a million questions. Billow tried placating him with a lie about there being a settlement on the Isle, of foreigners, and it being the place he first reached on this side of Rainland. Rott didn't believe any of it, but allowed himself to. They left at sunrise, and arrive at sunset. Billow and the nameless woman avoid the boss at hall nine, but are forced to fight a giant three-headed, four-eyed pit moose, surrounded by mindless black moose. Billow reveals a monstrous strength here, and the nameless woman slays the surrounding moose with her Zahal. A long dagger of sorts. At hall seventy-two, they encounter a red wyvern. At hall thirty-six, a screaming shadow who does riddles. At hall ninety, an army of dead men and dead dogs. At hall fifty-four, several ice-dragons. At hall ninety-four, a learned greets them. Billow suspects it to be the same figure who led him here before, but the man assures him he is not so great as that man from before. Rott, and Land had crossed through much earlier, and Billow and the nameless woman cross through as the Temple is collapsing. After conquering the Temple of Ninety-Nine Hallways on 07/07/5217, Billow, and the nameless woman will arrive on this Earth through Topaz's lychgate. The nameless woman had grown to respect Billow, but ultimately her sights were set on Rott, her precious baby boy. She was also somewhat interested in Landeles, who she had assumed was the target the Order of Myklasi Knights was after under the King's orders (she had been unaware that Kelcheldes was dead, as her Knights had been on an envoy mission in Vraek when they received word to head south). She knew her son was alive and well in Flayeland, but had not considered meeting him at all. She immediately recognized Rott, however, seeing the immediate resemblance to both herself and Viceses. She did everything in her power to stay with her son, and killed many of her comrades, and made it her secondary goal to kill Landeles. Billow and the nameless woman take up with Vilfumen. Much of the Tale of Zul is buildup to a gigantic fight at Lobtonne, which Billow will play a major part in. Billow plays an integral part in managing to fend off Landeles at Crowtonne. Ross was nearly his equal, but with Billow, they managed to make him flee, instead of possibly destroying Crowtonne. Ross was a master swordsman, but Billow was a beast, managing to smash Landeles clear across buildings, chasing him down alleys, and knocking loose a few teeth, breaking bones, and ripping apart wayward limbs on the god-from-the-lightning. However, eventually, Landeles smashed him right into some poor family's kitchen. Billow, enraged, murdered them all, but was easily able to prove that they were killed by stray rubble. Billow v. the nameless woman v. Darmurr the Yithman v. Ayeson Garlcutter v. Ross Fourthwalk v. The False Knights is this fight, all the while Rott's wish is going on, and Cal kills Rot, Vayess is frozen in the aftermath of the dogs' attempt at a coup, and Queen Sulenn's been killed by Crathar Nok. Rott grows to hate Billow as time goes on, losing sight of his humanity. Billow becomes romantically involved with the nameless woman, but eventually ends up killing her. They become romantically involved because Billow is quite unlike Viceses. He is quiet, reserved, serious, and quite cruel and unloving. While the King is loud, expressive, a jokester, and quite kind and warm. However, Billow listens. That doesn't help much with her muteness though. Topaz unsuccessfully tries to manipulate Billow. Billow doesn't trust the supposed grey priests on their travels through the blasted ruins. Eventually, the nameless woman chooses Billow, and her son, and Landeles, not Viceses. Ayeson, once he meets Billow, begins to refer to him as the Moonlion. He sees him as an otherworldly monster, not fit for life, and he decides that for the song to continue he must kill Billow. He gets this idea from Calthoss, who he wants sexually. Billow, and Calthoss were both raised to worship the Dragon Beneath this Earth, and so is Rott, at least partially. Landeles soon begins to rival Billow in raw physical strength after training in the Badlands. Calthoss begins to recover from her burns, but also begins gaining back her sanity while in hospice, and then in a normal hospital. She seeks to make amends with Billow, and later on takes no pleasure in shooting Rott with a grappling gun. Billow's eternal struggle is a question: "What kind of person am I?" Kind and noble, or violent and bloodthirsty. Weapon: Brute Strength, as the Green Man Bluesteel which he renames Billow's Steal. Quotes: Billow: "Lila... I don't want to die wearing a mask." Lila: "I... o' e'a..."Category:Main Nine Category:Characters Category:Bastards